Getting ready for a UK dive trip is a serious undertaking, says Yo-Han Cha, as fate messes with carefully laid plans
YO-HANCHA
Enough with the drama!
Getting ready for a UK dive trip is a serious undertaking, says Yo-Han Cha, as fate messes with carefully laid plans
Those of us who dive in the UK tend to own all or most of our equipment. We’ re the ones responsible for getting it ready before a dive trip. Usually I’ m pretty good at that, but there’ s the odd thing that slips through the net.
My most recent example is forgetting that one of my cylinders went out of service before a dive trip. Before embarking on a dive trip, my main thoughts are on my diving and camera equipment. There are some things I just assume will work fine. Like my car; aside from its annual service and MOT, usually all I need to do is remember to fill the petrol tank.
And it’ s never the small trips where something seriously goes wrong. If I’ m just nipping down to Swanage or Plymouth for the weekend, it’ s all good. Everything mostly goes to plan. A bit of unexpected traffic maybe en-route to the site, or I hit snooze one too many times as I struggle to get out of bed. All inconsequential issues. But when I needed to get to Penzance in order to go to the Scillies, nothing went to plan.
The ferry, accommodation and parking had all been booked in advance. All I had to do was to pack the car and pick up my friend Nick Schofield from Clifton SAC to head down to Penzance after finishing work. My vague plan was to get petrol, clean the bird droppings off my car and then pack my dive kit and camera at lunchtime. Then as soon as possible, head over to Nick’ s.
It felt perfectly doable; a tried and tested Friday diving departure. However, work decided that I would have a much busier day than usual, so there was no time for lunchtime packing. Oh well, that’ s what I get paid to do, I’ ll just have to pack the car after work. It meant I’ d be heading to Nick’ s at the height of Bristol’ s rush hour, but I’ d have to live with that. The car would just have to remain covered in bird guano a little bit longer.
My manager kindly released me at 4pm, at which point I set about
packing the car as efficiently as possible; trying not to forget anything. Why is it always baking hot while I’ m hauling
15-litre cylinders around? I bade my other half farewell and texted Nick to let him know I was finally on my way. As I set off, my heart sank as I felt and heard the wheel rim grinding against the tarmac. I had a fully flat tyre, naturally. Grrr. I was supposed to be picking up my friend and driving to Penzance. Fortunately, there’ s a garage about 50 yards down the road, so probably annoying all the cars behind me, I inched towards it at 5 mph, praying they hadn’ t knocked off early on a Friday afternoon.
My prayers were answered, however, as they were still open. Even better, they could replace my tyre before closing at 5pm. The garage owner and staff probably thought I was a bit off, as I was hyper-grateful! I was finally able to message Nick to say that I really was setting off this time.
The rest of the journey to Penzance was blissfully uneventful, and as I’ m writing this on the Scillonian, I’ m on my way to what promises to be an epic week of diving. I’ m hoping I’ ve had my fill of drama for the trip! �
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